Your hotel wants to increase direct bookings and get more out of OTAs, right? So what are the biggest challenges for hotels in 2017. What can stop you from achieving your goals?
Need we say it? Direct Competition!
The tourism industry is continuously evolving and so are the competitive challenges. With recessionary trends peeking in and ducking out from the fringes of world economies, the competitive pressures are only more confounded.
The Hidden Competition!
Well, this is something you can always contest. But the domain of entertainment, luxury and travel are somewhere interlinked to the same budget a family intends to spend in a given time frame, isn’t it? So accessories like handbags, wallets, mobiles, and shoes compete with luxuries like automobiles, fine dining and holidaying; they are also experiences that very much demand a share from the same wallet. So, growing eCommerce trends only indicate that hotels will have to brace themselves to these indirect competitors!
More Than Cookie Cutter Hospitality
More and more people are resisting the cookie-cutter hospitality that we see around most hotel brands. People are looking for new experiences that they can relate with, be it the environs or be it the tastes. Certainly above the new normal that they live in their homes but certainly not the “differentiation” that they bring in with interior decor.
For example, more guests now have fastest Wi-Fi in their homes and the latest HD TVs. A hotel offering anything less than this is certainly going to loose them… unless they offer experiences that connect with their guests on a different level.
Online Branding. Is it in sync?
Barring luxury hotels and some niche hotel brands, many just seem to have ignored this lately. With the comfort of OTAs around to get them business, they seem to have dropped off on working up their individuality.
- Ignored building or working on their own brand
- Working on differentiating the experiences they offer
- Offer rooms at higher rates than on OTA sites
So what happens if existing norms change or a new competitor with lower rates comes in the neighborhood? These hotels stand to loose their clientele. Hence, it is important to keep investing in your own marketing and brand. And maybe target to generate additional 10% of your room revenue from your direct booking!
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